Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #novelx4, aggregated by home.social.
WordWeavers Jan 21.
If in the middle of the book your MC discovered a foundling, what would they do with it?
If this is Elyssia we're talking about, she would take them in, make them part of the family, tackle whatever official stuff needed to be done and, in the end, probably fight to adopt them
#ScribesAndMakers 2 Whatever?
The problem is, the expense. He doesn’t have the resources to be driving up to Edinburgh every weekend, or to be paying train fares. He needs a job. He determines that is what he’ll do. First thing in the morning, he will go round town and find himself a job, whatever: stacking shelves, anything.
#WritersCoffeeClub 20
What rôle does death play in your work?
In the natural course of things, death is usually there or thereabouts
Now I look more closely, it seems death is always there or thereabouts
#novelx1: 1. traffic 'accident'
/ 2. suicide
#novelx2: 1. father [MC1]
/ 2. army service in Belfast
/ 3. both parents [MC2]
#novelx3: 1. wife
#novelx4: 1. suicide [ref x1 above]
/ 2. terrorist bomb
#novelx5: 1. Covid19
#WordWeavers Aug 16: Who is your most flamboyant character, and is it more visual, behavioural, or something else?
That would have to be Elyssia ... and it is all in the behaviour
Interesting that I don't have any visually flamboyant characters 🤔
WordWeavers 23
Your MC is lost in a busy city…
Nice question
Novelx1: Broderick Arnot, lean against a wall looking lost until someone offered to help
Novelx2: Theresa, take refuge in a cafe and ask the barista
Tom would never consider himself lost
Novelx3: Andrew Bridge, hail a cab
Novelx4: Elyssia, ask the first person to walk by: “Where the hell am I?”
Novelx5: Jim, phone Gill (his wife) & ask where he’s supposed to be
WordWeavers 4th June
Describe the mood of the opening paragraph of your story using 3 adjectives
intimate emotional troubled
'“What am I going to say?” she says, as they transfer from the A1(M) onto the M1. He glances across and sees the look of sheer terror on her face. It is difficult. He understands. She has confessed it all to him on the Green outside the cathedral under the starry, starry sky'
Here's an excerpt from #novelx4
#WordWeavers Mar 28
What gives your characters a sense of self-worth or meaning in their life?
#novelx1
Broderick: working with a team; finding signs of (past) life in the soil
#novelx2
Theresa: sailing; helping people
#novelx3
Andrew: fighting climate change (even if it is a hopeless cause)
#novelx4
Elyssia: believing in a better world; the love of the man she loves
#novelx5
Jim: surviving day to day; keeping the Tidal Teashop open
#WritersCoffeeClub - Dec 2. From all your work, who's your favourite character?
Oh, alright! I admit it
It's that annoying-girl-turned-vicar Elyssia Gadnall / Williams
She was the most annoying character in #novelx1 when she kept butting in where she was not wanted but she grew up to become a ... well ... a vicar
#WritersCoffeeClub #amWritingFiction
#novelx1 #novelx4 #novelx5 #ElyssiaGadnall
CW: This is a tough one
#PennedPossibilities 436 — Did your MC ever feel as though their innocence had been lost? What moment in their life could be described as the end of their innocence?
Yes
You’ll have to read the book
Which means I’ll have to publish it
Which means I’ll have to finish it and get it edited and …
Let’s just say, EG was assaulted by someone she knew from school when she was eighteen and gave birth nine months later
I made a rough and ready synopsis of the WiP by copy and pasting key sentences into Notes then printing
Now marking up major threads
Next, identify minor threads
Looking for loose ends I need to tie in
#WiP #novel #amWritingFiction
#EG2 #novelx4 #amEditing
#WritingCommunity
I've been reading the wip. It's taken a few weeks but I'm almost done. 'Reading through' soon became line editing, rearranging, sequencing, adding & deleting scenes, etc
I'm pleased overall. I think it's getting there
I've also been binge reading, mostly cosy, Christmas things but also Kazuo Ishiguro (Klara and the Sun) and The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett & a sci-fi YA novel Silver Dream by Neil Gaiman, Michael & Mallory Reaves
Happy New Year!
Imminence vs Immanence
Did I know this? I'm not sure I did
Writing a tricky passage in the wip* I use the word imminence. Checking the spelling, I find an alternative spelling: immanence. What, I wonder, is the difference? Oh! Really?
Apparently, I'm not the only one to have this epiphany
https://www.gaylecue.com/blog/imminence-vs-immanence
* 'Counsel for the defence is ... paralysed by the imminence of the tsunami about to break over him and wash everything away.'
I'm reviewing the wip (novelx4) checking for pace and continuity & inevitably doing some edit-on-the-fly. The thing is complete but for a few chapters still to be filled in. I need to get a feel for the overall shape before I do that, hence a review.
It's going well so far: no major problems; a few clarifications to add in and stuff like that. I'd like to add a bit more sparkle, though. Does anyone have magic wand I could borrow? 🌟 😁
It took about ten seconds to dream up this 'emergency' scenario but it has taken me four days to write it, and that is just the immediate action. What the longer term consequences are, I have yet to discover - but there will be some. The will be some!
23. Do your characters ever express gratitude to each other?
Funny you should ask that
Writing yesterday, several times, I caught mc Elyssia expressing thanks to other characters:
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” she said. That was probably too many Thank yous, she thought, but who’s counting?
She had just escaped imprisonment in the boot (aka trunk) of a car so perhaps it was not unreasonable
#wordWeavers
#EG2 #novelx4
#AmWritingFiction
#WritingCommunity
A couple of days ago, I was feeling so stressed (filling in a tax form - to claim tax back), I couldn't even think of writing
I dreamt up a completely new situation in my wip (mc kidnapped, abducted from her room and driven away in the boot of a car at night) and exorcised / extirpated / got rid of (what is the word?) the stress through writing. It worked!
Now, all I have to is deal with the consequences
I write best in the half hour before lunch and the half hour before supper. I seem to need to feel the deadline rushing up at me.
Today, I did some writing mid afternoon, too (half an hour before tea and cake)
PennedPossibilities 126 [ ... playing catch up ]
Which of the senses does your MC rely on the most?
Sixth sense
It's what gets her into trouble but, sometimes, it has its uses. Sometimes, you just have to trust that she knows what she's doing. Sometimes, you wish you hadn't
(When I say 'you', I mean me, as a writer)
#PennedPossibilities
#EG2 #novelx4 #amWritingFiction #WritingCommunity
Nov 1
Introduce your story as a high-budget film ...
Snow falling
Young woman, cellar, gagged, tied to chair
Lecture hall, students, images of archaeology on screen
Voice: [woman, American]
"Imagine yourself back there. What do you do?"
Black. Light infuses lower left, sea
Voice: [Scottish]
"In the beginning ..."
Bomb blast
Young woman walking, trees, flowers
Voice: [man, English]
"God! She's so annoying!"
ELYSSIA
Coming soon!
#WordWeavers 26 October:
Is your MC more of a people person, an animal person or a plant person?
Elyssia is a people person, every time
She lives amongst plants, they're essential environment, she would miss them if they were gone (I think). As for animals, well, yes, fine but they are for other people not for her especially except, in dreams, in the dead of night, she is a fox stepping stealthily through dew drenched meadows
#WordWeavers #amWritingFiction #WritingCommunity
#EG2 #novelx4
Came out of the writing hut this morning thinking it was Sunday.
Well, I had been writing a scene with a group of people having Sunday lunch together. It took me a couple of minutes to reconnect with this world and disengage from that world.
Is it still Thursday?
#amWritingFiction #writersProblems #WritingCommunity
#whatDayIsItToday
#EG2 #novelx4
Did a spot of writing today, snuck in a few sentences and a page of conversation. Had a crime to solve. MC Elyssia solved it while eating treacle pudding and telling the assembled company how she knew everything
Satisfactory, I think
Oh, they're in the Outer Hebrides, on Lewis, looking at archaeology: stones and stuff, very ancient. It is April 2011. The wedding is a week away, her wedding .. & his
A week? Why didn't someone tell me?
#WordWeavers October 4 - character development, world building, plot -- how much attention do you pay to each?
Does character drive plot or does plot drive character?
Both happen, I think. There is continuous interaction between character and plot. I pay attention to each equally
Mine are real world stories so the world is already there for better or worse
#WordWeavers
#amWriting #WritingCommunity
#EG2 #novelx4 (& 1,2,3)
I wrote some words today
Oh, boy
Words! Lines of words
Sentences
Paragraphs, even
A whole page and more
Two, perhaps, and a half
It's been a while
We had ten days away and then ten days since trying, and failing, to grab the reins of the runaway horse that is my wip but, at last, today, I'm 'back in the saddle' although it feels more like bare-back riding
Let's hope I can hang on for a few days
WordWeavers Day 4:
Does your antagonist(s) have a chance to become a better person?
Who are you asking?
Elyssia would say everyone has a chance of becoming a better person
Joshua would say he has no idea
Me? No chance. Dominic Brewster is rotten through and through, unredeemable (for the purposes of the story 😜 )
#EG2 #novelx4
#WordWeavers
#amWritingFiction
#WritingCommunity
TimeTravelAuthors 29: Alternate title for your story
I’m not a time traveller except in the sense of living from day to day but the topic rang bells
For some reason, the current WiP started under the title Apple Pie Order. It now goes under the generic Six Months in the Life of Elyssia Gadnall
I need something better:
The Christmas Eve Bomb
Whose Baby?
Young, Pregnant and Theological
??
Nah
#EG2 #novelx4
#AmWriting #AmWritingFiction
#WritingCommunity
#TimeTravelAuthors
WritingWonders 26Aug
If your MC wrote books, what would they write? Why?
Elyssia - popular theology
e.g. 'In Defence of Augustine of Hippo'
Because, why not?
(And, also, to be honest, because Sue Feenan would not like it. It would be a refutation of Dr Feenan's latest tome 'Augustine, the Man Who Destroyed the World' ... aka 'Augustine the Hippo'; see novelx1)
Augustine was not all bad!
He was mostly good
And human
PennedPossibilities 45
MC POV: Describe the most beautiful sound you have ever heard.
The most beautiful sound?
I think it has to be ... the blackbird singing in the garden early on a summer morning
Or possibly, a willow warbler down by the river, surely the silver sound of summer - (when we had willow warblers, that is. Where are they? What happened to them?)
#EG2 #novelx4
#amWriting #WritingCommunity
#PennedPossibilities
WritingWonders Aug 21:
MC POV: A stranger makes a crude comment about your SO or BFF. How do you react?
Give them the thousand-mile stare, hold it for ten, or twenty-five on a good day, and then walk away. Pray for them
WritingWonders August 20
Does your villain ever cry or show sadness?
Not seen. Not shown. But, away from the text, I think Dominic Brewster grieves for his son Archibald. Archie (aka Toady) hanged himself in August 2010
Long story short: Dominic is human. However, he will want to blame someone ...
WritingWonders 17th August
MC POV: What’s a deal-breaker in a friendship and/or relationship?
Unwanted attention (from a bloke)
Too much attention to Joshua Williams (from another girl)
#PennedPossibilities 43
Does your MC have an ex that they would ever consider dating again?
No. No ex. Joshua Williams was always going to be the one. She never, ever, even considered anybody else
Talk about focus 🤩 😍
#WritingWonders August 16
Give an example of a popular activity or tradition in your world
We don't have any. Oh, wait. Generally speaking, people watch things on telly and talk about it in the shop next day
Locally, in the village, we have the Lynchcombe Dream - midsummer, outdoors, the Shakespeare play. It's a hoot
On Christmas Eve, we have a nativity procession from the pub to the church, donkey and everything
Those are our traditions
#PennedPossibilities 42
What does your MC want their retirement to be like?
Apropos that last toot -
magical
The prospect of retirement is a long way off for Elyssia Gadnall since she is only nineteen. She has a life to live first. Yeah, a magical retirement appeals to her but, right now, she wants to live a magical life
Then she thinks of her parents and other older people she knows and realises it's probably not that straightforward
PennedPossibilities 35
Does your MC consider themselves an introvert or an extrovert?
If pushed, Elyssia would say she is an introvert
However, if you ask Joshua, he would say she is an extrovert, at least, she is compared to him. But you didn't ask Joshua
Introvert
If, at times, a pretty wild one
#PennedPossibilities
#EG2 #novelx4
#amWritingFiction #WritingCommunity
#WritingWonders
WritingWonders 9th August
Does your MC have children? If not, do they want to?
Ah. Tricky one.
Not everyone knows this but Elyssia is pregnant. Don't tell
In other circumstances, she would want children - however, in these circumstances, this is a moot point
Well, no. Hell, no
In these circumstances, she would not want to be having a child and/but there is no way she would even think of having an abortion
Can't tell. Don't ask
WritingWonders 8th August
What is your MC's bedtime routine like?
EG:
I don't think there is a routine. I get to the end of the day, fall into bed and go to sleep
Oh, I brush my teeth
Sometimes I'll have a shower
Sometimes I'll have a hot chocolate
Erm. What else?
Of course I get undressed and put my night things on but that's obvious
Isn't it?
#EG2 #novelx4
#amWritingFiction
#WritingCommunity
#WritingWonders
A thousand words today
That's better. I completed a chapter & with the 600 words I did yesterday, I feel as if I'm getting back up to speed after a few days off the pace
It was raining this afternoon!
(We went to the allotment this morning before the rain came and harvested a whole heap of courgettes and beans, Dwarf and Climbing French beans and Runner beans. I suppose I should be processing beans!)
#EG2 #novelx4
#amWritingFiction #WritingCommunity
#beans #courgettes #allotment #rain
#WritingWonders July 30
Does your MC have a good fashion sense?
Er. No. Not that I've noticed. Usually it's jeans and a polo shirt with a fleece or a sweater in winter
Although, now she is four months pregnant, she is going to have to think about what she wears. I guess she will consult her two best mates, Wing and Mary Lou
But perhaps not. They'll only give her mutually contradictory advice
And what do they know?
#WritingWonders
#EG2/3 #novelx4/5
#amWriting #WritingCommunity
#WritingWonders: 18th July
I wasn't sure how to answer this until I saw your answer
It is the characters, but not always how you expect
My #novelx1 (aka #EG1) was intended to be about the archaeology on a student summer dig in the Cotswolds but Elyssia Gadnall, who lived nearby, kept butting in
My current wip(s) - #novelx4 & #novelx5 (#EG2 & #EG3) - is(are) about her
#WritingWonders July 5th
Have your MC's ever been involved in a physical altercation? If so, why?
EG - no, but she has found herself in difficult situations and had to fight her way out so, perhaps, yes
In the WiP, she tangles with criminals, gets herself tied up in a cellar and has to stage her own rescue
JJW - yes. He had a bust-up with Toady Brewster at the outdoor, village performance of A Midsummer Night Dream in July 2010
It was over EG
#writingwonders July 1st:
MC shows up on your doorstep, what do you say and/or do?
Who are you again?
"Elyssia. You know - Gadnall"
<Faints>
<Comes round on the settee in the living room>
"Are you ok?"
How did I get here?
"I dragged you in" (she says)
Wait (I say)
"Can I call someone?"
No. No. I erm
"What?"
I'll erm make some tea.
Do you drink tea?
"You know I do"
OK. Yes. Err. So, tell me how its going
"It's going great, but I wish you'd lay off ... [fades]
#WritingWonders June 24th
Antagonist POV: What do you think about the MC?
[spoiler alert? 🤔 😉]
The stupid girl deserves everything she gets - including getting up the duff. Archie hung himself because of her, the idiot
She needn't think she's going to keep that child away from me. When I'm out of jug, I'll use all possible means to gain access, legal or not. That boy is a Brewster!
As for the Constantius medallion, she can keep her nose out & stop meddling
#WritingWonders June 23:
Would your MC/hero stand out in our world?
Not specially, no. She's just another student at university
The only way Elyssia might be said to stand out is that she is unusual (in the UK, at least) for thinking church and Christianity are important and in wanting to go into the ministry - she's a bit counter-cultural in that sense
#WritingWonders June 19:
Who was your MC's first friend? How did they meet?
In the WiP story (1) or in real life (2)?
I mean ... in her life before the WiP story begins!
(1) She already has Joshua so it must be Peggy - on p28 - first day at uni and they meet in the dinner queue.
Isn't that how all great friendships start?
(2) I have to look back into the predawn darkness ...
Probably Mary Lou Squires and it would have been at playgroup in the village hall